Little Hands' Learning Toolbox: The grant, applied for by Carla Williams, will be used to purchase several items, including a solar system fact finder, a space theme box, design and build engineering centers, gears builders, float and find alphabet bubbles, alphabet learning locks, and more. Funds from this grant are estimated to impact 120 preschool students. The solar system fact finder and space theme box provides exposure to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) ideas, tools and resources from an early age. By incorporating these tools through play and centers, students gain interest, awareness, language skills, social skills, emotional development and cognitive skills
2018
Spring 2018 Mini-Grants
Prize Patrol Revisits Schools
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Playing kazoos and carrying an oversized check, members of the Chillicothe Education Foundation traveled to four schools recently to surprise teachers with the news that their grant requests have been funded. Grant amounts ranged from $482 to $500 apiece. Members of the foundation making the stops to the schools included Ed Douglas, Julie McCoy, Inger Young, Lindy Chapman, and Dr. Roger Barnes. They are shown in the photos below, along with the grant recipients. Brief descriptions of the teacher projects also are provided. C-T Photos / Catherine Stortz Ripley
Little Dragon Foam Generator: This grant, applied for by Tim Marsh (materials science and technology teacher for 11th and 12th grades at Chillicothe High School), will be used to purchase a foam generator for students to make their own "aircrete", a new "breakthrough" alternative to concrete. Concrete is versatile and durable yet extremely heavy and has almost no insulative value. Companies have developed a way to incorporate foam into the concrete mix and reduce its density while increasing the insulative factor associated with the material. Being able to make their own "aircrete" would unlock the door to opportunities that traditional concrete would not present. The foam generator consists of a system of valves, regulators and pumps that take standard dish soap and convert it to high volume foam that is injected while the concrete is being mixed. Once produced, students would run the product through tests to investigate its properties, search for applications and test its limitations. Funds from this grant are estimated to impact approximately 70 students per year.
Mentor Sentences - Grammar Just Got Real: This grant, applied for by Central School's fifth-grade ELA teachers (Kate Jones, Phoebe Pyrtle, Jessica Shackelford, Amy Taylor), will be used to purchase a curriculum to cover many language skills through Mentor Sentences. This practice uses one sentence a week to model grammar, punctuation, and descriptive writing. Through consistent use of this curriculum, the teachers have seen an improvement in grammar usage, correct punctuation and an increase in confidence in the students' writings. Funds from this grant are estimated to impact all fifth grade students in the district.
Missouri Learning Standards for Middle School / Earth and Space Science: This grant, applied for by Shaylee Rademacher, CMS science teacher, will be used to purchase models to enhance learning about the solar system. The transparent celestial globe shows the Earth's position as it revolves around the sun and the relative position of stars and other galaxies. The orbiter shows the position of the sun, moon and Earth and will help students visualize the positions for these three celestial bodies in the event of both a solar and lunar eclipse. The final product is a 3D (glow-in-the-dark) model of the solar system. Funds from this grant will impact CMS science students.